{"id":307,"date":"2026-05-30T04:43:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T04:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=307"},"modified":"2026-05-30T04:43:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T04:43:56","slug":"russian-spies-are-aggressively-seeking-western-technology-as-sanctions-bite-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=307","title":{"rendered":"Russian spies are aggressively seeking Western technology as sanctions bite, officials say"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) \u2014 Russia\u2019s intelligence agencies have grown more aggressive in their efforts to steal Western technology and defense secrets as sanctions squeeze the country\u2019s wartime economy<\/span>, three senior European intelligence officials told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

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Moscow\u2019s agents are building fake companies, recruiting middlemen and deploying cyber spies and hackers who are gathering information that could also be used<\/span> to attack key infrastructure, they said.<\/p>\n

Four years of international sanctions have hampered Moscow\u2019s ability to procure machinery, technology and research from Europe, while the grinding war in Ukraine<\/span> has taxed key industries and pushed the country toward a potential financial crisis<\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey really know what they need,\u201d and are putting \u201cserious effort\u201d into acquiring advanced machine tools, factory equipment, research and dual-use technology, said Christoffer Wedelin, deputy head of operations at the Swedish Security Service.<\/p>\n

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Russia seeks high-end research, defense technology and software<\/h2>\n

In Sweden, Russia is targeting the defense industry and high-end research on the country\u2019s most advanced weaponry, such as the Gripen fighter jet, Wedelin said. It is also trying to procure camera and laser technology developed for civilian purposes that could be integrated into Russian weapons systems, he said.<\/p>\n

Moscow is also trying to steal technology to help it keep pace \u2014 or give it an edge \u2014 against the West in the decades ahead, said Juha Martelius, the director of Finland\u2019s Security and Intelligence Service.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about space technology, quantum … arctic technology, marine technology,\u201d he said, adding that space technology is something Russia needs \u201cright now,\u201d without elaborating. Countries use such technology for satellite imaging, communications and navigation.<\/p>\n

Russia also needs sanctioned computer technology and software updates for machine tools, Martelius said. <\/p>\n

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On Wednesday, Anne Keast-Butler, the director of the U.K\u2019s signals intelligence agency, accused Russia of \u201crelentlessly targeting\u201d<\/span> the U.K. and its European allies, by stealing technology and plotting sabotage<\/span> and assassination attempts<\/span>.<\/p>\n

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In May, Swedish police arrested two people on suspicion of violating sanctions relating to a company in Turkey that has made dozens of shipments of metalworking and metal-turning machine tools to Russia.<\/p>\n

As the schemes to acquire technology grow more complex, companies need to be more aware they could unwittingly become part of Russia\u2019s war supply chain, Wedelin said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the security and intelligence services in Russia are helping out on the state\u2019s efforts to get this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Intelligence officials say Russia cares less about getting caught<\/h2>\n

Moscow is also deploying cyberattacks against European firms and critical infrastructure in an attempt to gather information, which it could exploit \u201cwhen they get the chance and when it serves their purpose,\u201d Wedelin said. He pointed to an attack on a Swedish power plant<\/span> last year.<\/p>\n

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Russia-linked actors tried to \u201cdestroy\u201d the plant but failed because the system detected the intrusion, Wedelin said. He said the attack was partly aimed at undermining Western support for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Before then, Sweden\u2019s security services had mostly observed reconnaissance for potential attacks, intelligence gathering or activity linked to cybercriminals. The attack marked a \u201cswitch\u201d in Russia\u2019s modus operandi, Wedelin said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re no longer caring as much about potential attribution after their activities, so they are taking greater risks to achieve their goals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Problems are mounting for Russia\u2019s economy <\/h2>\n

Russia\u2019s increasingly aggressive tactics may reflect mounting internal concerns about its economy, which \u201cis not doing well at all,\u201d said Kaupo Rosin, the head of Estonia\u2019s Foreign Intelligence Service. <\/p>\n

About a third of Russia\u2019s gross domestic product currently goes to the war effort, Martelius said. The war and ensuing sanctions have slowed growth and fueled stubborn inflation. <\/p>\n

Russian officials planned to have a budget deficit of 3.7 trillion rubles ($52.1 billion) for the whole of 2026 and had already reached about 3.4 trillion rubles ($47.9 billion) by the end of February, Rosin said.<\/p>\n

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The Iran war<\/span> that erupted on Feb. 28 has provided a boost by causing oil prices to soar. The U.S. has granted sanctions waivers<\/span> for the sale of Russian oil and the U.K. watered down its sanctions<\/span> in an attempt to lower global fuel costs.<\/p>\n

Increased revenue since then has likely improved Russia\u2019s budget, but \u201cit doesn\u2019t save them,\u201d Rosin said, adding that if Western pressure persists, Moscow could face a financial crisis toward the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Rosin said intelligence seen by his agency shows a gloomier outlook among Russian officials over the past six months, with the narrative of \u201ctotal victory\u201d in Ukraine having vanished. Keast-Butler, of British intelligence, said almost 500,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion in 2022.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Russia and Ukraine have mostly kept their combat casualty figures under wraps.<\/p>\n

Stalled progress on the battlefield and economic woes have many Russian officials privately asking \u201cwhat is this all for,\u201d Rosin said, citing the intelligence reports.<\/p>\n

Martelius, of Finland\u2019s intelligence service, said that while some reports on the war in Ukraine may have been \u201csanitized\u201d before reaching President Vladimir Putin\u2019s desk, he believes the Russian leader has a fairly clear picture of the economic challenges.<\/p>\n

But that does not mean there will be political change.<\/p>\n

It is \u201cvery dangerous … to start analyzing Russia as if it is some country like ours,\u201d Martelius said. \u201cIt is not.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Russian intelligence agencies have grown more aggressive in their efforts to steal Western technology and defense secrets as sanctions squeeze the country\u2019s wartime economy. That’s according to three senior European intelligence officials who spoke to The Associated Press. They say Moscow\u2019s agents are building fake companies, recruiting middlemen and deploying cyber spies and hackers who are gathering information that could also be used to attack key infrastructure. Four years of international sanctions have hampered Moscow\u2019s ability to procure machinery, technology and research from Europe. The grinding war in Ukraine has meanwhile taxed key industries and pushed Russia toward a possible financial crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"yoast_head":"\nRussian spies are aggressively seeking Western technology as sanctions bite, officials say - Top Moving Pros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=307\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Russian spies are aggressively seeking Western technology as sanctions bite, officials say - Top Moving Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Russian intelligence agencies have grown more aggressive in their efforts to steal Western technology and defense secrets as sanctions squeeze the country\u2019s wartime economy. 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